There are conventionally-known solid-state imaging devices with a light receiving section having a pixel structure of a matrix pattern composed of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns (e.g., cf. Patent Literatures 1 and 2). In this solid-state imaging device, electric charges accumulated in respective pixels according to light incident on the light receiving section are transferred by voltage supplied to transfer electrodes.
An example of a method for driving the solid-state imaging device is the TDI (Time Delay and Integration) driving method of, while transferring an electric charge accumulated in a pixel to pixels on the same column at a rate corresponding to a moving speed of an object, further accumulating electric charges. The TDI driving method allows the device to clearly image an object moving at a constant speed, e.g., such as an object on a belt conveyor. Another example of the method for driving the solid-state imaging device is binning to add up electric charges generated in a predetermined number of pixels and output the sum as an output signal. The binning allows us to handle a plurality of adjacent pixels as a unit pixel.